Giant House Spiders….

[PickledMuffin]

I’ve seen a few in my house over the past couple of days… one actually eyeballed me in my hallway when i spotted it, didn’t run away when i approached it!

Why have they appeared, is it because it’s been cold out or is it spider mating season (which i thought was october) I don’t usually see them so often.

I found this beauty in my bedroom a few weeks ago, very unexpected!

Apparently every house has got dozens of spiders, average is 40 or 50 i think, and really old or really huge houses can have hundreds so its amazing we see as little of them as we do really.

I have a cat who would love that one under the jar! She thinks big house spiders are a tasty snack. The only sign I see of them is when she strolls by with the legs still sticking out of her mouth.

Gorgeous! A bit like a mini tarantula.

I love spiders, they are so cute, especially up close. I fell for them when I found out spiders have tiny little furry paws!

They're amazing aren't they. Kind of glad I captured and released it before I got into bed though 😂

@YelramBob dear god that's a whopper!!!

You need a cat! I’ve also heard conkers about the house are a deterrent. Not sure how. Probably just an old wive’s tale.

Gosh that is big for a UK spider. We are in Aus so used to big ones but I don’t like the look of that!

My cats just casually glance at them and move on. But spend hours chasing a leaf around 🙄

It's a Mediterranean spider 😂 And smaller than ones I used to find in my previous house next to a banana plantation.

Do you get the Huntsman spiders where you are?

My orange cat is fucking useless. I can actively carry him over to a spider and he’ll lie down comfy next to it and start purring and making nice eye contact with it.

I used to have hens and they were excellent, they’d end up with a spider leg each and all chase whoever was lucky enough to grab the body.

Embrace them as members of the family, it's the only way forwards.

That's hilarious and baffling at the same time 🤔😹

What a splendid spider. I'm in Australia and have only seen huntsmen near that size. If only the redbacks and whitetails were that big, then you could see them coming, instead they lurk under garden furniture and bark mulch.

My dog is quite keen on trying to eat spiders which I don't mind once I've checked out it isn't one of more challenging ones.

Bloody hell, that’s put me right off going to the Mediterranean. Didn’t know they has tarantulas!

Is that from the UK ??

Other than a false window living in the gap between the kitchen cabinet side and the wall and a couple of standard house spider boys that went out on the pull but got lost in the bath, I've not seen more than a couple of spiders indoors for years.

The cat tends to practice tapdancing underneath the bed at 3am.

I think these two statements may be linked in some way.

@YelramBob yes, huntsmen freaked me when we first arrived but now I am used to them. They eat the real nasties (like funnel webs, also around where we live) so I have a life and let live attitude. They can be really huge though so not for the faint hearted.

And of course that should read live and let live.

I put my jacket on to take the dogs out and it was only after I got to the park that I realised I had a hitchhiker.
I’m not particularly afraid of spiders but I shed my jacket immediately. (The very fast house spiders do startle me.)

In East England, read this thread last night and this morning had an encounter with a giant house spider for the first time in months 🤦‍♀️ FML

That's a brilliant photo, good job you spotted it! I've been bitten by a spider (not a tarantula lol) and it's really painful 😣

@MidnightMeltdown I'm not sure if they're actually tarantulas but very big and hairy, they tend to frequent banana plantations and I'm miles away from one hence my surprise at the bedroom invader. This one was a baby I think as I captured it in my smoothie beaker 😅

That's lovely, they're your protectors then ❤️

I really feel that spider in the jar photo needed a sensitive content warning - scared the bejesus out of me.

I found a massive house spider a few weeks ago in my youngest son’s bedroom, and my husband found one in the master bedroom a week or so ago. Very unusual at this time of year!

Thank you! This thread gave me an excuse to post it <proud>
It really was the most impressive specimen I’ve ever seen and throwing my coat on the ground was like a reflex, my body did it before my brain really registered anything.
Once I’d recovered I went down a rabbit hole trying to identify it.
Apparently its bite is ‘harmless’ but also like a wasp sting 🤔